College & Career prep for the 12 largest high schools in Metro giving students access to early college credit, certifications, & advanced classes

Unique learning opportunities in the Ford Academy of Business

Hello, my name is Lanse Ngo and I am a junior at Glencliff High School. I am in the Ford Academy of Business, which uses Ford PAS curriculum. Within my academy, we do simple things from team building activities to extravagant things such as job shadowing with many business professionals. I must admit my academy is not like any other academy, but I have to say it is the best. We have a unique learning environment. I realized this when I was in a meeting about my academy with CEOs from all over the city who are part of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce's CEO Champions. There was an activity in the meeting, where we got to make decisions modeling real life situations. Even though the activity lasted about 20 minutes, I realized many things make our academy special. Rather than desks, we have round tables so we can interact with each other like many people do after they graduate. The teaching style is also totally different. Our teacher is like a facilitator in the classroom and gives us directions on how to do the project. Then, as a group, we learn and interpret things on our own as we progress through the project and apply it to the real world. My academy doesn’t only give us amazing opportunities, but we also have a major recycling project as our interdisciplinary plan. I am proud to be in the Ford Academy Business, not only because there are only two academies like this in the country, but also because I’ve learned many things that will help me in the future.

Over the summer, I got a chance to be in an internship with Meharry Medical College for health messaging. It lasted four weeks and there was a stipend after completing the internship. This was a life-changing experience. I learned so much from this internship and experienced things I would have never thought of in my life. It definitely prepared me for the future, especially because it was in a graduate college and I got to see the expectations of that environment. Not only did I learn many amazing things, but I got a chance to meet and work with five other students from Glencliff High School and six students from Whites Creek High School and interacted with college professors. I also got a chance to talk to someone who made history in the medical field, Dr. Levi Watkins, M.D. I would, with no doubt, take a chance to do this internship again if I could.